It was dramatic, sure, the girl cried, sure, there's the whole poor vs. rich aspect... but I really enjoyed this story. I liked the girl, I did not find that she was completely without use and she did something to help herself and others around her. There's nothing particularly new about the plot, but everything is stretched out to the extreme.

Which is why I like it. I profess to be a fan of the male yandere, and that was the reason I read this. In fact, I LOVED the yandere character, I have no idea why that type of personality is so appealing to me but he really was everything I love to see.

The art is really pretty, I love the the girl's hair and all the clothes were gorgeous.

I have to agree with those who thought this series dropped off. It had me gripped when it started out. Handsome bad guy (or, is he?) out to use cute and clueless girl for his own ends...mwha-ha-ha! Conniving butler backing him up, hidden identities...then, it all became so predictable and cliche, that it's frustratingly lame. I'm only finishing the series out of principle. I expect shojo heroines to be kinda helpless but Sumi has raised cluelessness to an art form. And, what the heck happened to Soichiro and Komai? They turned from scheming edgy guys to near idiots! It makes you actually like Nozomu; at least he's consistently obsessed and crazed. If light, barely complicated romances, requiring little thought are your thing, this is perfect.

No, sorry, this is totally NOT my type of shoujo. What's with the storyline? Too much dramas in my opinion. While reading the story, I felt like each character had his/her own ON/OFF switch. By that I mean, each characters had their two sides, bright and dark sides. They always appeared to be elegant, gorgeous etc, but when something bad happened, they all became emotional and overdramatic. As the story went on, things got worse and worse and I just couldn't carry on reading this series anymore. I really couldn't bear all the depressing dramas. At first, I kind of like Nozomu but later then he just became a total freak. Jesus.

I personally don't like the artwork either. The way the mangaka drew her characters is just annoying. I really hoped for some hot bishies at least but the manga really disappointed me.

I don't think you should read this series. It doesn't worth wasting your time at all. It actually gave me a headache.

... Last updated on May 26th, 2013, 3:55am

So glad that this is over!! It took so long!! But I'm glad that I finally finished it. OMG I absolutely LOVED this manga. Right from the beginning until I got to the end.

I loved the story and the characters, though at times I was really annoyed. I couldn't fathom how Sumi could be so stupid. I loved her, but she was really dumb. How many times can someone fall for the same trap? You know he's up to no good yet you fall for it every single time. Like, really now? I loved Soichiro :-) I thought he was so adorable when he would pretend and try hide his true feelings. Nozomu was a complete psycho! Who knew?! And he sickened me right till the end.

Frankly, I thought the real relationship between Sumi and Nozomu was obvious. DUH? I wasn't surprised at all. The ending was kind of weak. But it's not like we couldn't have seen that coming at all HAHA

This story just started making me sick. It started going bad for me around the middle part of the story, Nozomu 's sick crazy love for Sumi just made me get the goosebumps and I wanted to barf....story started out ok, but it kinda got a little worse until I had to drop it, then reread it again....relieved that this manga has come to an end.

... Last updated on August 8th, 2012, 11:47pm

At first I was like "okay... nice typical shoujo... crazy bishie... okay we've all seen than" then maybe 10 or 20 chapters in, things got batshit crazy. I can't relate to Sumi so maybe that's why I can't stand her commoner and shameless attitude. Souichirou needs to stop having his random moodswings. One minute he's all caring and sweet, the next he is screaming and throwing things (a bit exaggeration but you know what I mean).

Souichirou and Sumi are honestly quite cute together... when when he decides that he cares for Sumi, but Nozomu is batshit insane! he scares me! And so is everyone else! They're irrational and very one-sided. Sigh I tried really really hard to go through with it but I just can't. I don't like these sort of crazy characters.

It's a good read if you don't think about what you're reading.

... Last updated on April 29th, 2012, 7:47pm

Okay, so I reached chapter 45 or so and I quit because I got tired of Sumi and all the excessive melodrama. A year later I decided to give it another shot, continuing from where I left off of course (I don't think I could stand rereading it from the beginning). So far, it's still melodramatic but I think I might be continuing with this for a while (until all the drama becomes too much for me at least).

Nozomu is a bit scary. With all those stalker-ish way of his, it came across as creepy and sick. It's weird too that Sumi and him has nearly the same color of hair and eyes. I wonder if they would be portrayed as siblings? And then that would add to all the drama and tragedy. Hmmm...

I admit there are good scenes and character development in this series, but there's a limit as to when Sumi (the female lead) would fall trap to Nozomu's plans to take her everytime. At first it was okay, but now it's just really annoying.

I do like Souichirou, but Sumi can be such an idiot to the point of exhaustion. Perhaps, like others, only the art is what keeps me from dropping this series.

Just reread this for the second time after years. And I still enjoyed it as if it was the first read through. This is one of the best drama stories I have read because I understand why the MC does what she does. She’s trying to keep her family safe, even if it means she has to sacrifice herself. While she is beautiful and skilled in cooking and playing shogi, I would not call her a Mary Sue though there are many shoujou clichés. Despite lacking the skills to read or write, dance or talk like a “lady”, she manages to warm the hearts of those around her because of her kindness, though it does not happen instantly. It is her kindness that is also one of her downfalls as she puts everybody else before herself, which is why she sells herself and ends up becoming a (very rich and handsome) stranger’s bride.

From here she learns the proper social etiquettes and slowly wins the heart of her husband and vice versa. But the drama is in keeping her pauper life a secret while still trying to take care of her siblings and keeping the other love interest at bay.

The art is stunning and I absolutely love the character expressions and gotta admit, I love me some PTSD symptoms in characters, lmao. But with all this said, the last chapter brings what would be a 9 or a 10 rating down to a 6.5/7.

The last chapter you think the shit is about to hit the fan with all the build up and tension that has been festering. And then it just…stops. And it feels like five chapters were somehow skipped in the middle of the last one. Makes me wonder if the manga got cancelled or something because I don’t understand why it would end so abruptly. It is just so disappointing, like getting a cookie only to take a bite and realize it’s stale. :<

... Last updated on June 17th, 2022, 1:25am